In celebration of our ten-year anniversary, we're moving the Portland flagship store from the West End to the Mississippi/Albina neighborhood. Our new 2,600 square foot location is situated just north of the vibrant stretch of restaurants, bars, retail stores and galleries on Mississippi Street and just a stone’s throw from Albina staples like Atlas Tattoo, Albina Press, Sweedeedee and Mississippi Records. Building on the Tanner Goods and Woodlands retail combination over the past five years, the expanded footprint will also feature a shop-in-shop for our sister brand Mazama Wares, as well as The Wayback, a new bar and café concept in the (way)back of the space that opens up to a 2,000 square foot private back patio. The opening is slated for August 2016.
The Wayback concept is simple: a comfortable, casual neighborhood joint to grab a drink and a bite to eat. We want to create a setting where people can come unwind after work and listen to some good tunes on the patio. The Wayback is basically a mid-century den that opens to a fully enclosed, green outdoor patio. It’s our own little music garden, of sorts
Just like our other retail stores, Portland's new flagship will stock our complete line of well-made items for everyday use, ranging from leather goods and bags to stationary, furniture, homewares and design objects. Likewise, the Wayback will focus on delivering a concise offering of local food and beverages, including a limited collaboration beer with Upright Brewing that we'll be releasing during the grand opening.
The newly constructed Albina Yard building, which will house Tanner Goods and The Wayback, represents a shift in focus for multi-use spaces in Portland, emphasizing design and sustainability at a time when the I-5 corridor has seen its fair share of cheaply-built, unattractive buildings going up at record pace. When we met with Albina Yard owners Aaron Blake and Christina Davis for the first time, it was clear they got it. There is a genuine need for new construction development in this part of town and they wanted to create a building that is beautiful, functional and timeless. We knew it was a perfect fit for the new Tanner Goods retail experience.
Albina Yard is a four-story, 16,000 square foot mixed-use building that features cutting edge Mass Timber Construction -- the very first of it’s kind in the United States, and made entirely from local Oregon timber. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden recently recognized the development for its use of a structural, cross-laminated timber product (CLT) that is being championed as the future for Oregon’s timber industry. “We know that if this strategy spreads, we’re going to make terrific buildings and build a terrific new timber economy to add to the one we already have,” stated Senator Merkley.